


perfected corruption

by The_Irish_scot



Category: Just Shapes & Beats (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Amnesia, Comfort, Fist Fights, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Ridiculous strength
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24697231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Irish_scot/pseuds/The_Irish_scot
Summary: My name has been lost to time, I am the strongest of all of them, second only to the messiah, my power has No limit, and my soul song howels, striking fear into the hearts of even these people,And with every passing moment I pray for death.
Relationships: Barracuda/original characters
Kudos: 15





	1. Journeys end

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to say now that my stories are OC centric (or OCentric if ya will) so if this ain't ye cup 'o tea nows the time to go...still here? Alright then.
> 
> In this au their souls are the shapes, and the music is their source of power.

Our journey has taken us far past our navigators maps, our journey for the three artifacts has taken us weeks, and at least the navigator is as fed up with teria's attitude as i am,

Teria, the messiah's trusted advisor, and best friend, although the way he fawns over the messiah makes me think their somthing more, I wonder how the messiah would react if I were to rip teria's head off in front of him,

Too bad I wont be able to find out, when I was corrupted they slaped these bracers on me and now I cant act for myself, and the armor they've given me is rather heavy too,

Full black plate armor with red spikes on the shoulders, knuckles, and one spike coming out of each knee, I have a waist cloth that reaches down to my ankles, and a cowl to hide my face, the outline of my soul shape is on the chest, my color is now black due to the corruption, however my original color was midnight blue, and my shape is an octagon, my hair was originally long but now its been cut the sides shaved and combed to the right side,

The perfected corruption grew whoever it touched in size and strength, especially me, I was always tall for my age, but my height reached its peak when I was around twenty, and I stood at about six feet, but after my coruption, I towered over everyone at eight six, even the messiah was shorter than me by a one foot,

We stop on large hill that overlooks a land close to a large body of water, in the distance I believe I see a volcano, a small village lay on the center island,

"Hmm, mayhaps we could ask these locals where the artifacts are held." Teria says, 'or "mayhaps" ye could stop talking like that ye cunt.' I think, thinking is the only way I can truly say what I want, and what come from me is a hum of agreement and we begin descending the hill,

Once we start walking I scream at myself in my mind, 'STOP DOING AS HE SAYS AND PUT YA BOOT UP HIS ARSE ALREADY!' and of course it goes unnoticed, damn bracers,

once we reach the village the villagers dont seemed bothered by our presence, 'a damn giant walks into ye town and ye dont even bat an eye, what have ye seen?' I think, teria puts his hand over his mouth and hums in thought, "they should have some type of leader, let us ask around to see if they could point us in the right direction." Teria says,

We walk for a moment until the navigator stops someone, "excuse me could you help us?" He says, the person turns around to reveal a young man with short hair, he apears to be wearing armor, and...what, his armor is pink, and his soul shape is that of an overly coruted flower, this man is corrupted, "sure, what can I help you with?" The young man says,

Before navigator could say anything teria interrupts him, "we are but friendly soldiers, on a crusade for our dear Lord known as the messiah, our people are called, the order, and we wish to speak with your leader to seek our next destination." Terra says, the man looks confused at teria, "uh...okay." He says, 'not even this guy's buying ye shite teria.' I think,

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but we don't have a leader." The man says, "no leader? Not even a mayor?" Teria asks, "nope, but we do have a hero, you could ask him." The man says, teria was about to say something, probably to ask were we could find the hero, but he was cut off by somone shouting from afar,

"Hey lycan, there you are!" Someone yells, we turn to see a man waving at us and walking this way, he is wearing full plate silver armor and he was a blue cape attached, his soul shape on on the right of his chest and is a cyan square,

The name he spoke, lycan, that must be this young mans name, "hey cyan whats up?" Lycan asks as the other man, cyan, comes to stand next to him, "blixer needs your help with something." Cyan says,

The young man nods and turns back to us, "this is the hero, cyan, he might be able to help you." Lycan says, he then runs past cyan to that blixer person I assume, "nice to meet you all, I hope paradise is treating you well." Cyan says, "yes this land is quite lovely, and we appreciate what help you could provide, we are in search of three great artifacts which hold great power, could you point us in the right direction?" Terra asks,

Cyan puts his hand over his mouth and hums in thought, "artifacts, huh, well-" I close my eyes and sense his soul, "there is a temple off to the far west, but others came here in search of the artifacts as well, so I'd hurry." Cyan says, the entire time he speaks his soul beats fast in low bass tones, wich means only one thing,

"Your lying." I say, my accent has gone with the attachment of the bracers, "huh, why would you think that?" Cyan asks, "I can sense your soul, souls beat fast in a single tone when lying, because your nervous of being found out." I say, cyan stepps back worry spread across his face,

"*tsk* *tsk* *tsk* now why would you do that? Champion." Teria says, I step forward and wrap my hand around cyans throat and lift him into the air, "now, are you going to tell us were the artifacts are, or is our dear champion going to have to snap your neck like a twig?" Teria says,

Cyan seems to dash completely through my hand and land in front of me, i look at my hand then at him, he's rubbing him throat and it seems my grip will leave a bruise, "you will go no where near the artifacts." Cyan says, he turns his body to me and takes up a fighting stance,

'Damnit lad, run away, I dont want to kill ye!' I think, I crack my knuckles and take up a basic fighting stance, cyan sprints at me and tries to kick me, i dont move and his attack lands on my stomach, i dont even flinch, I grab his leg and throw him left with all my might, cyan flies through a building wall,

I turn to the hope in the wall and wait for cyan, he ends up jumping out of the hole with blood dripping down his head, he tries to throw a punch and I catch his hand, I turn my body and throw him down the street past three buildings, his body bounces off the ground and eventually skids to a halt,

I havent even used my soul song, why does he continue to try, I walk towards him with every step eminating a mini earth quake with the amount of force I put into my steps, as I pass the second building I hear three sounds to my right, two deep sounds and one high, one deep sound soundls like a synth while the other sounds like bass, and the high sound is that of another synth,

I turn right just in time to see three men fire at me, I couldnt get a look at the other two, but I know one was lycan, two lasers fire at ne and I hold my arms over my face in a cross form to block the lasers, they fuse as they get close and hit my arms, I look up to see a third projectile flying towards me, it has the form of an eye and grows as it gets closer,

When it hits my arms I actually struggle, the eye starts to turn into a solid pink ball and absorbs the power from the lasers, I feel my face change to one of worry, which means this attavk is serious, it could hurt me...it could kill me,

O could finally be freed from tje orders control, all i van do is hope as the ball explodes into a dome of pink and engulfs me and and explodes, all I see when the explosion hits is white u til it slowly fades into black, and I think i begin to smile.


	2. Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song beats mentioned in this is: execute by excision

Slowly my eyes open to the sight of a burnt ground and the sounds of battle fade into my hearing, I look down to see that I am sitting on the ground with my back against a building, I start to stand up only for a blistering headache to hit me at full force, I close my eyes and place my hand on my head, I let out a groan as I fully stand up,

"Anyone get the name that twat?" I say, ...wait, I spoke, and my accent came out, I look around the ground and spot somthing that gives me a painfully large smile on my face, the bracers, shattered and spread out on the ground in a dusty pile,

I raise my fists in the air and begin laughing, "freedom, sweet sweet freedom, I can finally do as i please and live my life!" I say, a high sound of a synth breaks me from my celebration, I look to my left and down the road I see the young man, lycan, standing next to two others,

One man has light armor, black and pink with spikes on his shoulder pads and wrists, he has short brown hair that reaches the back of his neck, his soul shape is on the center of his chest, it appears to be a hollow circle, but with an eye and horns,

The other man has a long black robe with little armor decorating it, the armor is black while the robe is pink, he has long blond hair that reaches his lower back, his soul shape is on the center of his chest as well, but it appears to be a filled triangle with an eye in the center,

In front of the three men are teria and the navigator, a dark smile stretches across my face, "time to bust some heads." I say, I only take about two steps before three people jump from the alleyways and in front of me,

Two men and one woman,

One man is wearing heavy armor made of what looks like silver, he has a green cape attatched to his pauldrons, his soul shape is on his cape and is a filled green hexagon, he is bald,

The other man has light armor on and a scarf that hides his mouth and nose, he has short black hair and his soul shape is on the end of his scarf, a yellow triangle is his shape and color,

The woman has a long black robe on and no armor, she has short brown hair and her souls shape is an orange circle on her torso,

They all take up fighting stances, each one looking more focused on diferent points of guarding and attacking,

"Stop right their beast, we are your oponnents." The yellow one says, "beast eh? Well I guess is better than champion." I say, "enough of your jokes, face us!" The green one says, "sorry to disappoint ya lad, but that man ye friends are fighting has avoided my boot in his arse for too long." I say, the circle woman looks to teria and the others then back at me,

"What do you mean?" She asks, "my bad, that may not have been clear enough, I want to KILL the two I came here with." I say, they all look at me surprised, "y-your lying, do you take us for idiots?" The green man asks, "well shite, lot of good the that did, oh well come at me then." I say,

The green man is the first to charge me, he throws a punch at my face, I crouch down making him miss, i grab his ankle and stand back up, flipping him over my body and he lands on his back,

The yellow man is the next to sprint at me, he jumps in the air and attempts tp kick me in the face, I grab his leg when it gets close to my face and throw him over me to land on his friend,

I look to the circle woman and she looks at me then her friends on the ground struggling to get up then back up at me, "your not trying." She says, "course not, I told ye my plan, I just want to kill those two, and if it comes down to it, I'll just knock ya all out." I say,

The circle woman puts her hand over her mouth thinking, she then looks to me and starts walking over to me, she places a hand over my soul shape and a soft glow emits from her hand, "tell me your plan." She says, "I'm going to kill those two and figure out the rest from there." I say, she closes her eyes for a moment only for the glow to fade and she lowers her hand to her side,

She looks behind me where I asume the other two are standing, "its okay, he's telling the truth." She says, "are you sure rose?" The yellow man asks, "I'm sure, his soul isn't lying." The woman, rose says, "thank ye, now if ye'll excuse me, I'm gonna plant my foot in his arse." I say,

I walk past rose and walk towards teria and the navigator, the closer o get to them the more my rage grows, before i knew it my soul song had started, the bass hitting with every step I take, teria and the navigator turn around to see me, they turn back with smiles on their faces,

"Well its been fun, but I believe its time this ended." Teria says, "agreed, champion, kill them." The navigator orders, thats when my anger breaks, I scream at a break in my song, as I get louder and move my hands behind their heads, I slam their heads into the ground as the beat drops in my song, driving their heads into the earth and cracking the surounding ground,

When somones souls song is played their strength and speed are doubled and their powers become stronger, some people even have powers that cannot be accessed unless they use their soul song,

But ever since the corruption was found the build in strength increased, the imperfect corruption tripled powers, but at the cost of losing your mind to power,

The orders perfected corruption however, it quadrupled powers, and even made people stronger when corrupted, so not only do you gain power, your soul song gives you even more, and it comes without a cost, but the corruption cannot be removed once corrupted, and it takes time to perfect the corruption, a lot of time,

And the fact that that I am the strongest of the orders soldiers, makes me even more of a threat, without my soul song, my body is like a fortress of steel, but with my song active, it's like using a wooden spoon to peirce a metal wall,

I release the navigator and lift teria from the ground and look at him, his nose is bleeding as well as his head, multiple cuts litter his face, I reel my hand back and form a fist, I can feel and hear my knuckles popping, I let loose my most powerful haymaker and release teria, the power from my punch sends him flying through a building's wall leaving behind a rather large hole,

I turn around and crouch beside the navigator, I grab the back of his head and lift him from the dirt, I look at his face and see more blood on him then I saw on teria, i suppose he isnt as durable, I drive his head into the earth once again, I then pull his head out and drive it into the ground again, and again, and again, until the navigators face resembles that of something a dog shit out, but then again I asume thats how everyone in the order was born, I slam the navigators head into the ground once more, but I continue to push when his head hits the ground, I drive his head further into the ground until it cracks the ground even more and creates a hole deep enough to go past my wrist,

I stand up and turn back to the hole I put teria through, i walk over to it to see teria laying on top of rubble, i grab him by the shirt and pull him up to my eye level, his eyes are closed meaning he is unconscious, I reel my hand back and slap him across the face, the spikes on my glove cutting him a few times, he groans and looks at me,

"Champion? What happened?" He asks, i raise my hand and punch him in the face cutting him more, he spits up some blood when his head turns, "stop calling me that." I say, he turns to me with worry on his face, "y-your voice." He says, "what's wrong lad, is my seductive accent to much for ya?" I joke, "or are ye scared I can finally rip ya a new one." I threaten, "b-but how?" He asks, "seems those shitey bracers were just as flimsy as they looked." I say,

"But I think we're getting off topic." I say, "t-topic?" Teria asks, "the topic of me ripping ye head off." I say, I then punch teria in the face once again, then i lower my punch to his chest, i begin to beat teria savagely with out rest, once his ribs are dust and his face is leaking like a broken faucet I drop teria on the ground, he screams in agony once his back hits the ground, 'sweet music to my ears.' I think, teria turns himself around and tries to crawl away,

I reach down and grab him by his hair and lift him onto his knees, I place my other hand over his mouth and chin, i move my hand from his hair and place it on the back of his head, teria begins to panic and struggle, he tries to tear my hands off of his head, i begin to scream the same as when I drove his head into the ground, once I twist his head fully around I stop screaming, teria falls to the ground and drool and blood pours from his mouth,

My song fades out and I exhale, I feel relieved, "alright then, only one thing left to do." I say, i turn to the three teria we're fighting, behind them i can see cyan laying on the ground unconscious, I walk up to them and they take up fighting stances, "let me through, I can help him." I say, "fuck off, theres no way we're letting you near cyan." The circle man says, "ye just witnessed me turn my ally's faces into paste, and I haven't attacked ya, I want to help him." I say,

"No way, you cant trick us twice." Lycan says, "let him through." A woman says, i turn around to see rose walking up to us, "what are you talking about, this could be a trick to kill cyan." The pink triangle man says, "no, I sensed his soul, he wont hurt cyan, at least not on purpose." Rose says, the three men look at each other then stand normally, "alright then, we'll trust your judgment." The pink triangle says,

I turn back to rose and smile at her, "thank ye." I say, "don't mistake this kindness, we still don't trust you." The green man says, "thats fine, cuz I wasn't thanking YOU." I say, I turn around and walk past Lycan and the other men, I stand over cyan, his face bruised and bloodied, I sit down on my knees and place my hands over his soul shape,

I pump energy into his soul and with every surge of energy a deep bass hits, after a while I stop and look at cyan, his bruises and cuts are healed but the blood that dripped onto his face had remained, i place my hand on the side of his face that doesnt have a lot of blood and begin tapping his face, "hey, lad, wake up!" I say, slowly his eyes start to open and he sits up,

Cyan places a hand on his head as if to steady a headache, "ye alright lad?" I ask, cyan groans and shakes his head, "what happened?" He asks, "I may have tossed ye around like a rag doll." I say, I stand up and offer my hand to cyan, "sorry about that, I wasn't in my right mind." I say, cyan looks up at me and hesitates to take my hand, "thank you, but why the change of heart?" Cyan asks, "I didn't have a change of heart, those cunts were controlling me." I say,

"Why were they conrolling you?" He asks, "lad thats a long story, and I dont think ye want THAT stuck to your face anymore." I say pointing to the large streak of blood on cyans face, "plus I have to get this damn armor off, it's about to break my shoulders." I say, cyan looks over to the others looking our way, "blixer, your house is closest, we'll all get cleaned up and then we can hear his story." Cyan says, "no problem, do you want me to get cube too?" The circle man asks, he must be blixer,

"Yeah, he'll need to hear this too." Cyan says, "alright, I'll meet you guys there then." Blixer says, he walks off towards an alleyway, "you guys keep a look out and make sure they weren't followed." Cyan says, "got it." The yellow man says, rose and the other two run off to the entrance to the town, "come on we'll get to blixer's and then you can tell us everything." Cyan says, I nod and we begin to walk off towards blixer's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has the time and patience I would appreciate a beta reader, I also apologize for the misspelling in this and future chapters, I'm writing this on a phone and its a pain in the arse to do so.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make my chapters longer so you get more information and story, but once again it makes more typos that im gonna miss, so tell me if the longer chapters are good or not.
> 
> Or more accurately tell me if the increase in typos are too annoying.

Once we get to blixers house everyone desides to take separate showers, cyan going first because...well its hard to debate when one man has a large streak of blood going down his face,

I do not take a shower and only remove my armor, unfortunately i do not have any form of clothing underneath and I am forced to just sit in a room shirtless,

Cyan and lycan are sitting across from me on a couch, while the triangle man showers, we sit in silence until cyan desides to break it, "if you wont shower at least go wash your hands." He says, "whats wrong with-" I look at my hands and see that they are covered in blood, "...oh" I say,

I stand up and walk past cyan and lycan to get to the kitchen, I turn the sink on and began washing my hand, the blood coming off with some effort, after a while I am almost done when I hear a door open, "where's the behemoth?" I hear blixer ask, "he's in there, he's cleaning his hands." Cyan says, "from what blix told me thats more than necessary." A voice I dont know says,

The voice was male and higher than anyone else I've spoken to,

I turn off the water and dry my hands, i begin walking back into the living room and I see blixer and another man in front of the front door,

The man is shorter than cyan only by a bit, he has a short robe and pants on with no armor, he has long-ish curly brown hair that reaches his shoulders, his soul shape in on his chest, a light blue cube,

The other man looks at me with wide eyes and he stares at me, "ye gonna make me feel self conscious ya keep doing that." I say, "oh s-sorry, your just, uh, a little, uh-" "scary." I interrupt, "n-no no, I wasn't going to say that." He says" I walk to my seet across from the couch and sit down, "no ye weren't, ye probably to nice to say it, but its true...i'm a monster." I admit,

The room falls silent only broken by a door opening further into the house and walking getting louder, the pink triangle man walks Into the living room and looks around, "...what did i miss?" He asks, "nothing important." I say, "so are ye ready for my tragic backstory, cuz i'm about to ruin ye week." I say, "just simplify what we dont know, who are the order and what are their goals?" Cyan says, I nod and blixer and the others sit with cyan and lycan, "why dont we start off positively?" The short man asks, "how so?" I ask, "lets introduce ourselves, properly." He says,

"Alright then, im blixer." Blixer says, "I'm cube." The short man says, "I'm Baracuda." The pink triangle man says, "cyan and I already introduced ourselves." Lycan says, "right, so how about you?" Cyan says, I look down and turn my head away from them, "well?" Blixer asks, "I...cant." I say, "why not, I feel like the LEAST we deserve is a name, considering you almost killed our friend." Blixer says, "blix calm down, I'm sure he has his reasons." Cube says,

"It doesn't matter, we still dont know who he is and he's already betrayed his own people after-" "I dont remember." I interrupt, "...w-what?" Cube asks, "I dont remember my name...or who I use to be." I say, "...why dont you tell us about the order?" Cyan says, i nod and get comfortable in my chair,

"The order is a giant group of people like me, they are all corupted with a new form of corruption." I say, "wait, like the same corruption that grants power at the cost of your mind?" Blixer asks, "the very same, but the order has done countless experiments on it and mutated it into somthing stronger, its now black, grants even more power, and costs nothing to use, but it takes time to make and once somone is corupted it can not be undone." I explain,

"If it doesn't cost anything then why cant you remember who you are?" Lycan asks, "dont know, but I have a theory, I think I had amnesia right before I got corrupted and I never got my memories back." I say,

"Anyway, the orders goal, they travel the world searching for artifacts of great power to bring back to their leader, the messiah." I explain, "why does he want the the artifacts?" Cube asks, "he wants to become godlike and corrupt the world, and those who do not wish for corruption are to be killed, he believes he is justified in his actions, but all he's done is kill innocents in the name if his own insanity, and I was controlled to be one of his soldier's."

The room falls silent for a few moments until cyan speaks, "who is the messiah?" He asks, "wish I could say, I've rarely met him, all I know about him us that hes a mad man who thinks he knows what's best for humanity." I say, "well...i have no other queations." Cyan says,

"Then let me, what is my fate to be?" I ask, they all look at me, "what do you mean?" Cube asks, "well I tried to kill cyan, and I've damaged parts of ye town, so am i going to be imprisoned, executed, what will happen?" I ask, "hmmm...well, you helped me and dealt with the threats, so I think we can look the other way, but I dont know how the people will act with this information, so it might be best for you to stay hidden at the hot spring with Baracuda and lycan." Cyan says, "I would have preferred execution." I whisper, "huh?" Blixer asks, "nothing, I dont know how long I'll stay, but I want to come up with a plan to destroy the order, so I'll do that while I'm here." I say,

"Alright, cuda could you lead him to the hot spring, I need to talk to blixer and cube." Cyan says, "sure but, shouldn't we think up a name for him, it'd be a little odd to adress him without a name." Barracuda says, "I already have an idea." I say, "what is it?" Cube asks, "one of the other knights called me it after I got free of the mind control, call me beast, it seems fitting." I say, "alright then, come on, i know a shortcut that avoids the town." Barracuda says, I follow barracuda out of the house and towards the hot springs.

(Pov change: cube)

Even after they left I felt a tightness in my chest at how beast spoke of himself, I look to the ground with a frown on my face and I feel a hand on my shoulder, "you alright?" Blixer asks, "what did this 'order' do to him? He spoke of himslef as if he was a wild animal needed to be put down." I say, "what do you mean?" Cyan asks, "he whispered something when you told him he could stay at the hot spring, it was quiet but I heard it plain as day, and it hurt to hear, it hurts to know how little his own life means to him." I say,

"What did he say?" Blixer asks, "he said...he preferred execution." I say, the room falls quiet and after a little bit blixer wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a hug, I put my face in his chest as i feel tears fall from my eyes.

(Pov change: beast)

*achoo* I wipe my nose and sink further into the floor of the boat taking us towards the volcano, "your not getting a cold are you?" Barracuda asks, "nah, someones talking about me." I say, "huh?" Barracuda asks, "old superstition, if ya sneeze it means somones talking about ye, it's probably ye friends." I say,

We sit in silence the rest of the way to the dormant volcano, turned hot spring.

Barracuda's house seemed to be build into a cave inside the hot spring, the door was circular and large thought I still had to duck underneath it, his living room was pretty basic, a couch two chairs either side of it, and a small-ish tv in front of them, the tv was beside the front door with the couch and such across from it, beside the couch and chairs was a door frame conecting this room to the kitchen, and to the right of the front door are stairs that lead to his bedroom and other rooms,

"Make yourself at home, just try not to brake anything." Barracuda says, "I'll try not to stay too long." I say, "I...I dont mind the company really." He says, "what do ye mean?" I ask, "well, I dont get many guests, I built this house close to the hot spring because the springs are calming, but its too far away from the town for anyone to travel just to visit me." He explains, "well now you have a guest for a few days, and dont worry I dont expect anything from ya...that...didnt sound right." I say,

Barracuda starts chuckleing and turns away, "dont worry I get what you were going for, its getting pretty late, I'll make us some food then we can sleep." He says, "do ye need help?" I ask, "nah dont worry about it, you just get comfortable and I won't be long." He says,

Barracuda walks into the kitchen and starts rummaging through cabinets, i sit on tbe couch and look around the room, upon closer inspection he dosent have any pictures on his wall, but he has a ceiling fan, and two tall lamps on either side of the room, I supose being in a cave dosent provide much daylight,

I lay on the couch and my feet dangle off the arm rest, i begin to think about how I can defeat the messiah and the order, 'the messiah's power out weights mine, even if I use my soul song I dont think I have a chance, my only option would be to find ally's but even that seems impossible, my time with the order has given me a reputation, a reputation I would like to throw in front of an oncoming train.' I think,

I put my hand to my head and groan, 'about five seconds of thinking and all I've come up with is two ways i could die, this is going to be difficult.' The smell of somthing good breaks me from my thoughts, I sit up and smell the air, it smells like pasta but im not sure what, guess I'll have to just wait, I lay on my back and close my eyes, the smell is too good for me to ignore so I just lay on the couch,

After a few momemts I hear footsteps and open my eyes to see Barracuda walk back into the living room carrying two plates, he set one down and sat in the chair to the left of the couch, lasagne was on the plate in front of me, it looks, we'll normal, but it smelled amazing, I grabed it and the fork beside the plate and took a bite,

My eyes widen once the food hits my tongue, I have to hold myself back from wolfing the food down, I look to Barracuda and he looks up at me, "what did ya make this with, its incredible." I say, "I didnt do anything special, have you never eaten lasagne before?" He asks, "I dont know, I might have, but this is just great." I say,

Barracuda smiles at me and continues eating, it dosent take long before i am done eating, and thankfully he made extra, probably because he thought I would eat a lot,

After grabing my second plate and sitting back down Barracuda decided to make conversation by asking, "so why dont you tell me a little about yourself?" "I'd be glad to, just as soon as I find out who 'myself' is." I say, "o-oh, right...sorry." Barracuda says, "dont worry about it, if I minded I would have told ye." I say, "well, how about you tell me about your life in the order." Barracuda suggests,

I look to the ground with a grim look on my face, "I...i'd rather not say, at least not now." I say, "alright, well i should get to bed, I dont have a guest room sorry, but if you want I could set up something for you." He says, "nah, the couch is fine, thank ya though." I say, "well I'm just going to put away the leftovers and get to bed, so goodnight." Barracuda says,

He walks into the kitchen with his empty plate and begins putting away the leftovers, when he walks past again he gives me a wave and heads upstairs, i quickly eat my second plate of food and stand up to put the plate in his sink,

When i come back to the living room I lay on the couch and try to sleep, it takes a few moments and a lot of roling around, but eventually i fall asleep,

Only for the smell of smoke to force my eyes to snap open, I look around and I am horrified to see that I am standing in the center of a burning town.


	4. Chapter 4

The smell of ash and smoke filled the air as I scowered the area for...anything, the cause of the fire, survivors, something, I begin running down a path and search alleys and houses as I do, I can see next to nothing through the flames and smoke, if this was an attack the attackers are beyond gone by now,

I dont see bodies anywhere so maybe the citizens escaped, the path becomes more stone than dirt as I get closer to a large house, its large and the fire hasnt spread very far on it, "wait, w-why does THIS house seem...familier?" I ask, I look around and still dont see anyone, or bodies, 'what the hell is going on?' I think, "HELP!" a high voice screams,

That voice was too high to be an adult, oh god, it came from the back of this house, I sprint towards the front door and kick it down as best I can, the door crumbles thanks to the fire weakening it, I look around the room and I see a door attatched to the back wall, rubble and flaming furniture litter the room, I run to the door jumping over rubble and running around flames to reach the door, I grab the door knob, "AH SHITE!" I scream as I jerk my hand away, "hello, is someone their? Please help us!" The high voice calls,

I look to the door shocked and I try to think of somthing, 'brute strength then.' I think, I raise my leg and kick the door, a low bass hits as my foor lands on the door, the door shatters to pieces and flys to the back wall, I enter the kitchen and see two children sitting in the middle of the floor, one is a boy with dirty clothes and his face is covered in soot,

The other child is a girl younger than thw boy, just as the boy her clothes are dirty and her face has soot on it, if not more,

They look at me and their eyes widen, "you!" The boy says, "follow me te need to-" the roof above the children cracks and small pieces of rubble fall, it feels as though time slows down as i run forward and the ceiling falls, I stop in front of the kids and hold my hands up, by some miracle ix catch the ceiling, the children look at me in shock and surprise,

"Go, ugh, NOW!" I say, the boy helps the girl up and they walk past me as more rubble falls on me and forces me to take a knee, but what is this feeling, I cant have them leave that way, but why, its not just because of the fire and rubble, "no." I say, the kids stop and turn back to me, I look around the room and see a back door, "that way." I say, the kids hurry past me and reach the back door, the boy puts his hand on the handle only to jerk it away and hiss at his hand, "its too hot." He says,

I think quickly and an idea pops into my head, ive never tried this before, but my options are limited, I quickly turn my left palm to the door only for the ceiling to fall into my back, I groan in pain and look up at the kids, they are worried and I can see tears welling up in their eyes, I've never cared about my life I hoped every battle I entered would be my last, but right now I cant afford to just give up, I can die later but right now I refuse to have my strength fail me when I need it most,

I push my back against the ceiling and quickly move my right hand above my head, I trt to push the ceiling up with my right hand and I don't even move it, but I cant give up, 'if this corruption grants power, then show me, give me somthing, give me anything, just let me save them, let me use this power for good.' I think, even more rubble falls onto me, i fear my spine may snap soon, 'fine then, i dont need this power, I'm strong on my own, I'll prove it, I am not their champion, i am not their TOOL-' I push with more force and i can feel the ceiling move slightly, "I AM NO BEAST!" I scream, I use even more force and slowly lift the ceiling screaming as I do, after a short time I stand up and lift the ceiling further above my head, I look to the door and raise my left palm,

A loud low bass bursts through my hand destroying the door, "RUN, NOW!" I shout, the kids run through the door and I cannot see them, I did it, now I just have to get after them, I focus power into my right palm and shoot another loud low bass, the ceiling flys upward, I dive toward the door and roll out as the ceiling comes down once again,

I landed on my stomach in the burned grass, gonna stain but I guess dirty clothes are better than crushed bones, I try to raise myself up but when I try to move my right arm it feels like it was stabbed a hundred times, I raise myself up with my left arm and sit on my knees, i look around and see the kids a little further ahead, I stand up and quickly walk over to them,

"Hey!" I call, the boy turns around and stops the girl, he seems shocked but smiles when he sees me, i walk closer to them and I smile back, "do ye know the way out of this town?" I ask, the girl turns to me but shys away from me behind the boy, "n-no, we've n-never been outside the village b-before." She says, "well, ye best stick with me, I'll get you out of here." I say, i walk down the pathway with the children following,

The kids stay silent for most of the walk but I'm not going to preasure them, im sure we're heading in the right direction when the buildings seem to be more destroyed and the fire calms, "why are you helping us?" The boy asks, "what do ye mean?" I ask, "I thought your people hated us." He says, 'my people? Oh...right the corruption isnt really hidden now is it?' I think, "...those arent people lad, those are monsters wearing human skin." I say, "then what are you?" The boy asks, "...no better, but unlike them, i want to be, I never wanted to join them, that forced me...but that dosent excuse the wrong ive done to others." I say,

"Then your already doing better." The boy says, "ha, very nice of ye, but I know I'm not a good person." I say, "yes you are mister." The girl says, "if you weren't, then you wouldn't have saved us." She continues, "I mean you broke your arm saving us, I think that makes you a hero." The boy says, my eyes go wide and I look away from them as I smile and feel tears form in my eyes, 'I guess kids really DO say the damndest things.' I think,

I wipe my eyes and look back at them with a smile, "thank ye both, truly." I say, I look to the girl before we start walking again, "hey lass, whats that ye got?" I ask, the girl moves her arms to reveal a large book, "its a book of fairy tales and myths." She says, "somone close to us read it to us a lot, and we wanted to keep it to remind us of them." The boy says, "our favorite story is one about really strong knights who guard artifacts." The girl says, 'hmm, that sounds familier.' "How does it go?" I ask,

"There are four knights in a distant land of this world, but not on any map, they guard three ancient artifacts that are the pillars of their land, if the artifacts are damaged or separated their land would be flooded with corruption." The boy explains, '...okay no way in HELL thats a coincidence.' I think, "does it say what the knights look like?" I ask, "no, it only says their really strong and their land is beautiful." The girl says,

'Beautiful land, knights guarding artifacts, not located on any map, thats three gold stars that scream paradise.' I think, but, why do i feel like I cant tell them that, we reach the village gates and step outside of them, although, "hey, why dont we go looking for that land?" I ask, "really?" The girl asks excited, "yeah, I'll bet we can find it and we can meet those knights." I say, "yeah, lets go!" The boy says, "alright, but we cant go if I dont know your names." I say, "oh right, I'm Ishmael." The boy says, "and I'm Ava." The girl says, "now you." Ishmael says, "oh, uh, I dont have one." I say,

"You dont have a name?" Ishmael asks, I shake my head and look at them, "I have one." Ava says, "we'll call you strong, cuz your really strong." She says, I laugh a bit but smile at her, "alright then, call me strong." I say, they smile at me and i smile back,

My head suddenly pulses with pain and i raise my left yand to my head, "strong, are you okay?" Ishmael asks, "I-I don't know." I say, "hey, your arm thing are glowing." Ava says, 'arm things?' I think, I look at my arm and my eyea widen in horror, the bracers, their back, but how, my head pulses again and I begin to stumble backwards, Ishmael calls me but his voice is muffled, he's screaming about something, he sounds panicked, I fall backwards and the world go's black,

...

I jump up and take quick heavy breaths, i feel sweat pour down my head, I look around my suroundings and see that I am still in Barracuda's house, what was that, the heat from the flames, the pain the rubble caused my body, that was all so real, "hey." Someone behind me says, I whip my head around to see Barracuda poking his head out from the kitchen door frame, "you okay beast? You seemed real comfortable so I let you be while I made breakfast, what happened?" He asks,

I raise my right hand and look to my arm, the pain as well as the bracers are gone, "I...what was that?" I whisper, "what was what?" Barracuda asks, "their was fire everywhere, and these two kids, and my bracers were back." I try to explain, I look at barracuda and he looks just as confused as me, "uh...lets talk after we eat." He says,

I nod and stand up to follow him into the kitchen, Barracuda has made the most basic breakfast ever, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns, not that I'm complaining, the man can apparently mold pasta into fine food art, so I can't wait do see what hes done with this, Barracuda hands me a plate and I take some food, we move to the livingroom and we eat,

The first bite I take makes me stop in my tracks to question what ive been eating my whole life (or what I could remember), "so how is it?" Barracuda asks, "I could die now and go happy." I say, Barracuda laughs and looks at me, "flatterer." He says, "cant help it, its that good." I say, "are ye a professional?" I ask, Barracuda laughs again and shakes his head, "no I'm a guard." He says, "ye wasting ya talents." I say, Barracuda laughs more for a few moments before he turns to me, "shut up and eat before you make me choke." He says, I laugh a bit and continue to eat,

...

After we eat Barracuda turns the tv on and we watch something I'm not paying attention to, my mind is too busy thinking about what happened, "do you wanna talk about it now?" Barracuda asks, and now I'm thinking he can read minds, "alright." I say, Barracuda turns off the tv and moves onto the couch so we can face each other, "so what happend, you were sleeping soundly then when I checked on you, you looked like you just ran a marathon." He says, "I had, a strange dream." I say, "that's it, a weird dream?" He asks, "i dont know, it felt way too real, their was fire everywhere and I could feel the heat from it." I say, "well tell me what happens and then we can try to decipher it." Barracuda says,

I tell Barracuda every detail about my dream and he seems more concerned the closer i get to the end, "-then I passed out, thats when I woke up drenched in sweat." I finish, Barracuda puts a hand to his mouth and hums in thought, "I...I dont know." He says, I look at him deadpan, 'this was your idea.' I think, "well I'm sorry but I got nothing, dreams are visions that colide what we know with what we believe, people are usually able to decipher dreams by separating belief and knowledge and find its meaning, but your dream is...well its somthing that could happen, a village could catch fire at any time, it could be because of the order or because a lit lantern fell, their is nothing to separate." Barracuda says,

"It HAS to mean something, if those kids exist their out their now, alone, if wild animals dont get them the order will!" I say panicked, "maybe your body is telling you something." Barracuda says, "huh?" I ask, "hear me out, their is such a thing as muscle memories, you may forget somthing you use to do CONSTANTLY, but your body remwmbers doing it, so you copy it before your mind can keep up with what your doing, maybe the pain from the ceiling and the heat from the fire were so much, your body buried the memory in your soul." He suggests, "i feel like ye graspimg at straws." I say, "its more like I'm grasping at the ONLY straw." He says,

"Well their are ways to find out, but all of them involve somone leaving the village." I say, "then we wait until we have another option." Barracuda says, I sink into the couch and sigh, we sit im silence until a knock comes from Barracuda's door, he stands up and answers to see a sweaty and panting lycan,

"Cuda, we need help, bring beast, hurry!" Lycan says, "whats wrong?" Barracuda asks as I stand up, "monsters are attacking paradise." Lycan says, Barracuda runs upstairs and I walk over to lycan, "I thought I was supposed to be hidden from the people of paradise." I say, "change of plans, theres a lot of these things, and blixer had to bail to get cube to safety." He says, "oh yeah, here." Lycan says, he reaches beside the door and pulls out the armor i left at blixer's, "sorry, but I can fight better without it." I say,

Barracuda runs down the stairs and throws somthing at me, a sleevless shirt, hooded shaw and mask, the mask is plain white with black lines for the eyes with three straps' one that goes over the head, and two that go on the sides of the head,

"Lets see if you can fight as well as you did yesterday." Barracuda jokes, "I should be better, now that my armor isnt restraining me." I say, we leave the house and I put on the mask and clothes as we aproach the boat, the mask is strangely comfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I re-read these things twice and I find nothing wrong, its only when i post them That I find typos, although it could also be because I write these on a phone with thumbs the size of cat paws.


	5. Chapter 5

We Hop off the boat and run towards the village, "what are we dealing with here?" I ask, "we're not sure ourselves, they seem like dragons but weaker." Lycan says, "well thats reassuring, cuz dragons just seem so easy to take down." Barracuda says, "well no one said this would be easy." I say, "your right, and its not gonna be any easier for cyan and the others, so lets hurry." Lycan says, we run faster towards the village and in time we see the heros fighting the monsters,

The monsters, are not how lycan explained, "i thought ye said they were weaker." I say, "i did, what's wrong?" Lycan asks, "what's wrong is, those are drakes, they are NOT weaker than dragons, they are just as strong." I say,

Six drakes, all standing on their back legs and stand at the same height as me surround the heros, claws that can put a buzzsaw to shame, and scales as hard as iron, very little weak points and the ones they do have are hard to hit, grey and black scales with piercing red eyes, 'I cant tell what kind of drakes these are.' I think,

"Lets hurry, I got the feeling these things don't like playing with their food." Barracuda says, I not and run to the drakes, i choose the closest one and reel back my hand, when the drake turns around it immediately catches my fist to its snout, it stumbles back and shrieks at me as blood pours from it's nose, the remaining drakes scramble to attack the hero's as well as Barracuda and lycan,

The drake jumps at me and raises its claw to bring it down, I jump back and dodge the claw only for its other one to raise and slice me, luckily I am able to kick the drakes wrist and stop its claw, I strike at the drakes face again and follow up with an attack to its chest to push it back, The drake stumbles back again and hisses at me, I look over the drakes face and chest to see that my attacks haven't left a single noticeable mark other than the bloody nose,

The drake charges me again and I strike at its head but it ducks away, when it raises up I try to jump back only to feel something wrap around my ankles and trip me, when i look to my legs I see that the drake has wrapped its tail around my ankles, the drake dives at me and I raise my hands to block its arms, it starts to bite at my face missing every time flinging blood and saliva everywhere, but its strong and im not sure how long i can hold on,

Suddenly the drake starts to look at its body only to raise up as a metal serpent slithers up its body, the drake tries to catch it but its faster than the drake, once the serpent is close to the drakes face the drake tries to bite it, but the second the drake opens it's mouth the serpent dives into its mouth and crawls down its throat,

The drake coughs and gags for a few moments only for it to stop and continue coughing even worst than before, eventually it starts to cough up blood and gags on it until it throws up more blood and spasm until it falls over limp, I untangle myself from the drakes tail and stand up, I look around and see Barracuda standing behind me,

"Was that yours?" I ask, "yes, I can summon metal snakes, that one just turned that things insides into ground beef." Barracuda says, "thanks, who else needs help?" I ask, barracuda looks around and points towards lycan and cyan, "you go help them, ill go help Barron." Barracuda says, I nod and run towards the others, the drake has stopped moving and is looming over lycan and cyan, 'what convenient timeing.' I think, I jump and grab the drakes head before it can turn around, I kick the back of its leg forcing it to take a knee, I place my hands on its chin and back of its head and begin to twist it's head, 

The drake is strong and struggles for a while, but eventually I am able to break its neck, I look around and see barracuda fighting along side the green hexagon man, 'he must be Barron.' I note, I look around and down the street i see someone, a young boy maybe close to nine,

"What's wrong?" Cyan asks, "theres a kid over there." I point out, lycan and cyan turn to see the kid, "what the, the towns supposed to be on lockdown." Lycan says, "help the others, I'll get that kid home." I say, they nod and run past me, I run down the road to the kid, he's just staring at the battle in awe, "hey lad, ye have to get home its not safe here." I say, "but I want to watch the hero's." He says, "your gonna get hurt if ye-" a loud shriek make me freeze in place, I spin around and try to back hand the drake behind me, only for my arm to get caught in its mouth, the drake sinks its teeth into my arm, its teeth feel like serrated blades,

I scream in agony and drop to one knee, I turn to the kid to see him in shock, "run, now dammit." I order, the boy slowly backs away only to turn and sprint away from me, I turn back as the drake sinks it teeth deeper into my arm, 'death by drake, not the most exquisite death, but i guess its mine.' I think,

A metal serpent launches itself at the drake but the drake catches it only for it to evaporate into pink smoke, I look left to see Barracuda running at the drake, he jumps in the air to attack the drake but its tail whips around to hit Barracuda in the stomach and fling him into a wall making the wall crack,

My eyes widen and anger bubbles up inside me, i turn back to the drake and lift myself back up, "how dare you-" i reel my right hand back as low bass sound from it and get louder and louder, "YOU BASTARD!" I scream, I swing my hand forward in an uppercut motion and strike the drakes chest, my hand goes through the drake and my arm is drenched in blood,

My right hand is covered in a Smokey black and white aura, I pull my arm from the drake and lift its maw to free my arm, I turn to barracuda and rush to him, I crouch down to see that he's unconscious, his stomach and back will bruise and hurt but other than that he should be okay, "hey, what the?" Someone says, I look right to see everyone looking in the opposite direction and the drakes gone, when i turn left I see the remaining drakes running out of the town.

(Pov change: cyan)

As the drakes run out of the town i cant help but turn my gaze to beast, that attack looked like nothing to him, as if he's done it a million times, but we could barely hurt those things and he just put his fist through one like it was made of paper, my suspicions were right, he's stronger than he knows,

Which means the order cant be ignored.

...

(Pov change: beast)

I move around uncomfortable in the chair I moved to watch Barracuda, rose had patched up my arm and I cleaned myself off, after I placed barracuda in his bed I just felt the need to wait beside him for him to wake up, 'he's not dieing why am I acting this way.' I think, and yet i cant help but worry, but why, '...is it...is it because he helped me?' I think,

I've been waiting for an hour and my eyelids are heavy, but I just don't want to leave his side, 'ugh, damnit, why, why am i acting like this, I'm not in love with him just cuz he tried to help me...right?' I think, I've never experienced this feeling before, I don't know what to do, a groan and rustling breaks me from my thoughts, i look to barracuda to see him open his eyes, 'thank God.' I think, "are ye okay Barracuda?" I ask, he wipes his eyes and looks at me, "yeah I think so." He says,

Barracuda looks to the chair then me, "did...did you wait for me to wake up?" He asks, I look away then nod, "thank you, I've never been hospitalized before but, its nice to know someone will wait for me." Hr says, 'thats not helping me right now.' I think, "Barracuda why...why did ye try to save me?" I ask, "well, when i saw you getting hurt I just got so mad and then before i knew it i was charging the thing." He says, "ye shouldn't have tried." I say, "well I wasn't gonna let you die." He says, "it wouldn't have mattered." I say, the room goes silent for a few moments before Barracuda breaks it, "why do you think that?" "think what?" I ask, "that your life doesn't matter." He says,

"Because it doesn't." I say, "but why do you think that?" He asks, I feel anger built up inside me as well as sadness, "...im going to bed." I say, i stand up and turn to the door to see the metal serpents blocking it, "just tell me." Barracuda says, "drop it." I say, "just tell me, maybe I can help you." He says, "drop. It." I order, "if its something you did in the order then maybe it can be redeemed, how can you k ow if you don't try?" He asks, i whip my head around with anger and tears in my eyes, "the only way to redeem what I've done, is to die, but i can't die until the order falls." I say, "...what happens?" Barracuda asks,

Tears stream down my face and I move to sit on the edge of the bed, "...i've killed so many people, I've ripped families apart, I've taken children's parents from them, and I've been given nothing from it, the only way I can feel redemption, is to destroy the order...and then die." I say, "you blame yourself for what the order did?" Barracuda asks, "no, i did it, i was the one who killed innocent people." I say, "but you were under mind control." He says, "it doesn't matter, their blood has stained my hands, i saw the fear in their eyes as they died, I was the one who set the first fire when a town had to be purged, I'm nothing but a rabid beast needed to be put down." I say, I cover my eyes with my hands and sob into them,

I feel arms wrap around me and I look right to see barracuda sitting on his knees hugging me, i slowly hug him back and sob into his shoulder, I don't know how long I was holding him or when i layed down beside him, but I was happy in those few moments i was aware, when Barracuda pulled away he was smiling at me, "stay here tonight, you deserve to have a friend beside you." He says, I nod and stand up to remove my shirt and boots, I lay back down and cover myself as much as i could, Barracuda turns his lamp off and lays down, "by the way, call me cuda, its easier to say." Cuda says, "okay...cuda." I say, I feel shuffling and cuda wrap his arms around my torso and press into my back, "goodnight." He says, it takes me a moment to process What's happens but eventually i respond, "goodnight."


	6. Chapter 6

As i wake up and slowly open my eyes I notice cudas arms are no longer on me, I am relieved but also sad, I roll over onto my back and stare up at the white ceiling, I cant stop myself from thinking about cuda, he's been so nice to me since I got here, although hes been the only person I've spoken too since I got here, but still, he had no say in letting me stay here and he's treated me with nothing but kindness, did his feelings just come about in a span of a few days, or is it like, love at first sight, i jump up and shake my head, I cant think like that he hasn't said anything like that, although, he wraped his arms around me and held me close, that isnt somthing people just do...is it?

I stand up from the bed and begin redressing myself, 'thinking about this is giving me a headache.' I think, once my boots are on I walk out of the room and into the hall, to the right of the hall is the bathroom and the left leads to the living room, I head left and poke my head into the room, cuda isn't there but I can smell something good in the air, he's cooking something, I sit down on the couch and think, I'm nervous to see him again, I dont know what to say after everything that happened last night, I want to ask what he feels, but I'm worried what his answer might be,

"Oh, your awake." I jump and turn right to see cuda standing beside me, "y-yes sorry, didn't mean to be so jumpy." I say, "don't worry about it, here lets eat." Cuda says, laying a plate of breakfast food in front of me, cuda moves past me and sits down, right beside me, I feel my face heat up as i pick up my plate and start eating, the foods as good as always and I have to hold myself back from scarfing it down,

"How is it?" Cuda asks, I look at him then back at my plate, "g-great as always." I say, "thank you." Cuda says before he continues eating, 'I feel so stupid, I'm a grown man, not a teenager sitting next to his crush, I have to say something.' I think, "cuda i-" a knock at the front door interrupts me, "sorry, hold on a sec." Cuda says, 'didn't think I'd rip someones arm off this early.' I think, cuda opens the door to reveal cyan, "morning, didnt mean to disturb you two but I need to speak with beast." Cyan says, cuda welcomes him in and he sits in cudas usual chair as cuda sits back beside me, "we need your help beast." Cyan says, "why's that?" I ask, "we need you to train us." He says, "train ye, how's that gonna help?" I ask,

"I saw your power yesterday and it made me realize if the order is almost as strong as you, then we cant ignore them, and if we are going to fight them we need training, and you were the strongest fighter they had, so we need you to train us." Cyan says, "it's not gonna be that easy the order gained power from the corruption, training isn't going to make ye strong enough." I say, "well if you got to know me better you'd know im very persistent." Cyan says, "ye can call ya self what ya want, simple training will only keep ye alive for an extra three seconds." I say,

"So your going to just shy away from potential allies?" He asks, "no im sparing a few daft bastards from getting themselves killed." I say, "we're stronger then we look." He says, "really, cuz ye look like I could snap ye like a twig, hell I almost did." I say, cyan jumps up from his seat and his hands clench into fists, "fine, even if you dont help us train well fight the order." He says, "I'll write on ye graves 'here lies so and so, dumbarse fought the order' hows that sound?" I ask, "what makes you think you'll do any better?" He asks, "I don't but unlike YOU twats I know I'm walking into a deathtrap, and I know my own strength, I'll be able to take out enough of the order so someone stronger than me will have an easier time taking care of the rest." I say, "so you see yourself as a means to an end?" He asks, "no, I see myself as a dumbarse with a death wish, but I'll be taking those cunts with me when I die." I say,

"I thought you were a good person and could help us, but I guess I was wrong." Cyan says, "ye first mistake was thinking I'm a good person." I say, "then why did you help us?" Cuda asks, it took me by surprise that cuda would speak up, "ya all let me live, so I was just paying ya back." I say, "and what about staying by my side while I was injured?" Cuda asks, I look away and I can't help but feel horrible, but i dont want them involved in this fight, "...i felt responsible because you tried to help me...nothing more." I say, "and the children?" Cuda asks, my eyes widen and i look at him, "w-what do ya mean?" I ask, "I've gone over every possibility and all of the dream science I could find, your dream was a forgotten memory." He says,

I jump up and fully face cuda, "WHAT, you mean those kids were real, THEIR ALIVE!?" I ask, "yes, their alive, and you saved them from the order, so why did you do it?" Cuda asks, I hang my head and I feel so bad I could cry, but I hold my own, "alright damn it, ye got me, maybe I wanted to protect paradise, and maybe I was worried you wouldn't wake up, I just don't want that corpse pile to get bigger okay, this is my fight, i don't want to put you all in danger." I say, "like I said were stronger than we look, and well do anything to protect this world." Cyan says, "I still dont think training will do much, but I'll help on one condition." I say, "name it." Cyan says, "I have to find those kids." I say, "huh?" They both say, "I left those poor kids alone to fend for themselves, I have to find them, or at least know what happend to them." I say, "deal, but we have one small problem." Cyan says, "whats that?" I ask, "we dont have many fighters to protect paradise, so well only be able to spare one to help in your quest." He says, "well I can do this on my own so a have all of your fighters if ye want." I say, "better safe then sorry, so I suggest me." Cuda says, I turn to cuda to see him smile, "I'm alright with it if he is." I say with a smile,

"Perfect, I'll inform everyone, you two get ready to leave and I'll meet you at the gates tomorrow." Cyan says, he turns to the door and leaves the house, the room falls silent and I can't help but look back at cuda, hes still smiling and looking me right in the eyes, "did you mean what you said, about being worried I wouldn't wake up?" He asks, I look away and I feel my face heat up, "y-yes." I confirm, cuda doesn't say anything for a while but eventually I feel arms wrap around my torso, i look down to see cuda arms around my chest, "thank you beast." Cuda says, "f-for what?" I ask, "being sweet, and keeping me company, I didn't know I needed someone to be with me, until you showed up." Cuda says holding me tighter, "so thank you." He says again,

I feel warm inside, like a warm fire on a cold night, its nice, I want to feel like this all of the time, I speak clearly so cuda can hear me better, "I should be thanking you." I say, "why?" He asks, "you've given me a reason to live." I say, I feel cuda bury his face into my back, i want to hold him back, and want to lift him up and never let him go, but I dont want him to let go, i want to stay in his arms forever.


End file.
